Overheard today at the winter farmer's market (the last of the year):
Man to bread vendor: Do you have any normal bread?
Vendor: What do you mean by normal bread? Do you mean white bread?
Man: You know. Something to make a sandwich with. White . . . rye.
Vendor: I have walnut, or whole wheat.
Man: No, no, no. None of that tricky stuff.
Of all the tiny telenovellas that have played themselves out at the market -- the sad-eyed alfajores baker aching to make a sale (delicious, but $4 apiece); the alfalfa sprout vendor from downstate, resiliently appearing after being implicated in the Jimmy John's salmonella scare; flirations between vendors and patrons; visitors who graze on free samples and never buy a thing -- this is undoubtedly my favorite.
Happy trails, winter market. You've served my pantry and my eavesdropping well.
5 comments:
Bummer. How long do you have to wait for the next market?
The summer market opens in June, but we have the grocery co-op nearby now, so we'll be able to throw them some support in the meantime.
That wheat bread is always trying to trick me, too, dag nabbit!
Tracy, wheat bread will cast a spell on you. It might also try to sell you a fancy watch from inside a trench coat if you don't keep your guard up.
The guy's got a point about bread being "tricky" when it comes to sandwich appropriateness. Witness the debate on a recent episode of
"It's Pittsburgh" (starting around 9:10).
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